


it's better to burn (than to fade away)

by junxouji



Series: The Gentle Devil [2]
Category: EXO (Band), K-pop
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Gang World, Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Alternate Universe - Mob, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Big Gay Mobsters, Crimes & Criminals, Implied/Referenced Dubious Consent, M/M, Non-Chronological, Organized Crime, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2018-05-16 06:19:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5817382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junxouji/pseuds/junxouji
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The second life Jongin meets him is <em>just</em> as tragic and hopeless as the first had been. </p>
            </blockquote>





	it's better to burn (than to fade away)

**Author's Note:**

> **SEQUEL TO[THE GENTLE DEVIL](view/858932/the-gentle-devil-angst-fantasy-romance-kai-suho-kaiho-sukai)**  — but can _most_ likely be read as a stand alone story.  
> 
> ####  Warnings for homophobia, slight angst, and depression. 
> 
> * * *
> 
>  
> 
> Time tells absolutely _nothing_ ,  he has learned. Be it today, tomorrow, or a millennium from now. He could have been born as anything in this world at any moment on the pendulum of history and he still would have loved him just as much. For Jongin, he was a garden of celestial beauty bottled up in a world that would try to disguise him as a weed. 
> 
> But Jongin knew what happened when Junmyeon got the chance to _bloom_.

> “And maybe, although it was a thing you could hardly bear to think about, like death or your last judgement, maybe he would be the last one ever and he would walk away now and it would only be a question of waiting it all to end and hoping for better things in the next world. But that was silly, it was never too late.”

 

\- _The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne,_ Brian Moore

 

 

* * *

 

 

_**Seoul, United Korea** 2034_

 

 

It all happened the same way every time.

 

This time he was a doctor - which was not too surprising - and a hell of a lot better than when he had been a soldier. Jongin sat in the dingy check up room behind faded blue curtains in the dwindling hospital. At it’s peak, this place might have been once the center of health innovations. Now it just hung by a thread, a pitiful phantom of it’s faded glory, standing out of place in the slums of the new age Seoul - riddled with drugs, wars, and crime.

 

After the reunification of the Koreas nothing turned out how their leader’s expected. Corruption tore their system inside and out, festering an influx of crime that no one ever stood a chance against.

 

Jongin had been scared of what he when and where he would find the other in this life. It took a little longer than the others but when the blue curtains were pulled back and in came a male with rosy cheeks and a surprisingly optimistic smile Jongin’s heart clenched because of course he would find him here of all places.

 

But it did not last long, not that Jongin expected it to.

 

“Kim Jongin, bullet wound in the chest.” Junmyeon reads from his clipboard pushing back one of his blonde locks. His expression turned more grave and his cheerfulness slipped - somehow his eyes refuse to meet Jongin’s. “I will get you a script for anti-inflammatories and you’ll have to take it easy for the next few weeks so your wound can heal without any disruption.” The vile in his voice was detectable. “They were able to extract the bullet without complications so once your nurse returns with the discharge papers you’re free to go Mr. Kim.”

 

Someone like Junmyeon would not like someone like Jongin on principle. They were in opposite businesses. Junmyeon saved people’s lives and Jongin took them. It was ironic to see how far apart they have slipped from each other this time.

 

“They did not tell me they were hiding such a gem in such a shithole.” Jongin says with a small lopsided smirk, eyes scanning over the elder’s form. He was thinner this time. Delicate, even.

 

Junmyeon’s eyes narrow as he stiffens. His lips purse because he undoubtedly knows what kind of man Kim Jongin is. “As I was saying, my job here is done. If you need anything please ring a nurse.” It is cute how his voice rings with defiance even as his body recoils from Jongin’s eyes.

 

“I do not have any interest in a nurse.” Jongin says with a smile. Junmyeon already knew he did not, it was not something that needed to be said. Anyone who was anyone in this area knew who he was and what he was about:

 

Kim Jongin, youngest son of the residing crime family that has torn Korea apart - a man not to be refused.

  
  
  
  
 

It is late into the afternoon when Junmyeon pulls off the white lab coat and tosses away his plastic gloves. The locker room is noisy as the male staff changes from their uniforms into their casual clothes many having worked too many shifts to be fully alert. For instance, Junmyeon was going on nearly twenty-four hours straight as he pulls on his soft worn sweater.

 

It would be nice if the hospital actually had money to pay them. They were understaffed and underpaid, barely getting by as the hospital floated above bankruptcy in a part of the city that did not care about the sick or the dying.

 

Junmyeon rolled the tension in his shoulders as a hand slapped on his back. He jumps and turns his eyes accusingly onto Baekhyun - a nurse who did a little bit of everything. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news but he’s waiting for you. He’s parked out in the front.” Baekhyun says. “Saw him on my smoke break.”

 

A flush spreads across his face. Junmyeon is not under the impression that anyone is naive into the interest shown to him by the young Kim Jongin. They all know what it means as the young mobster shows up at inconvenient times making himself comfortable in Junmyeon’s office or waiting outside the hospital for him to get off. It’s been weeks and Junmyeon just hopes to lose his interest soon.

 

There is only one good thing about Jongin’s sudden interest: no one has come demanding a cut of the hospital’s profits (which they don’t make any at this rate) and no protection fees from the neighborhood gangs extorting everything in the slums.

 

“Thought you quit smoking.” Junmyeon mumbles as he pulls on a old parka - faded black, flecked with lint or cat fur,  and patched at the pockets. Some doctor he was. Baekhyun only replies with an indignant snort.

 

“That was before I was backed on rent a few months.” Baekhyun laughs with a crinkle in his tired eyes. “It keeps off the edge.”

 

“Thanks for letting me know. I’ll try to take another exit then.” Junmyeon says shortly after softly and grabs his messenger bag. “Make sure you get some rest, alright? You are looking a little exhausted Baek.”

 

He’s only met with the response aren’t we all? before Baekhyun is sliding out of his blood spattered scrubs.

 

Pulling out his cellphone he already sees the unread message icon as he chews his lip. Offering goodbyes to a few doctors and staff he passes on his way out he makes a beeline for the side exit. Thankfully, he does not have to worry about finding his car. His old Chevy is parked in his driveway at home. The rusted thing barely sees the roads these days. Instead he wants to hopefully catch the subway to make it home before dark. By the way the sun is setting quickly he does not think he will make it.

 

Pushing open the heavy doors to one of the side exits he is met with two familiar men in black suits. In retrospect, he should have known all exits would have been blocked. He is by no means clever and certainly is not going to be given the chance to escape.

 

“Chanyeol---” Junmyeon barely gets the words out before a hand is placed on the bend of his elbow and he is being escorted by both men. He doesn’t even get the chance to ponder if he should run or not. Not that he, a ragged weary tired doctor, could out run two bodyguards who eat three full meals a day.

 

“You are late and Mr. Kim is waiting.” Chanyeol says with a faint cheerful smile. It seems so out of place compared to the other stern man much shorter but just as strong. Minseok, Junmyeon remembers him being addressed by. “You and I both know how he gets when he is kept waiting.”

 

Junmyeon does not bother to face anyone they pass. No one can help him. Not in this world, at least. He cannot even help himself, he thinks bitterly as he pulls himself out of their grip. “I can walk by myself.” He says dignified, glaring at the two. It’s not their fault either - if not them, two other men who needed money to survive - but he needs to feel justified with how helpless he feels.

 

The sleek black SUV with tinted windows is waiting in the usual spot. Chanyeol pulls open the backdoor and Minseok pushes him forward. Junmyeon heaves a sigh and slips into the car.

 

He really hates the intensity of Jongin’s stare. He is always met with the same thing. Greedy hands pulling him closer and a warm mouth pressed against his own. Junmyeon pushes against his chest lightly - not as if refusing him, but more like not here.

 

Chanyeol slips in the front seat next to the silent driver and Minseok probably goes to get in another SUV not parked too far away. “Where to boss?” Chanyeol is asking as he if doesn't already know.

 

“Junmyeon’s.” Jongin says.

 

There is the constant pressure of Jongin’s hand on his thigh. He hates how the tan warm hands seems to wrap around his leg, pressing higher and higher until Junmyeon grabs his wrist sending a look to the other.

 

Jongin is incredibly handsome, there is no denying that truth. If one could get passed the fact he was one of the most dangerous men in United Korea then they would realize how charming he is. The thick brows, the full lips, and playful chocolate brown eyes. He has a boyish smile and a deep raspiness to his chuckle when he leans over placing another kiss on Junmyeon’s lips. Inky dark hair, much taller, and no matter what he wore he filled out his clothes nicely.

 

“What in god’s creation are you wearing, Jun?” Jongin asked lightly as he pokes at the old parka Junmyeon had grabbed in haste the morning before when he had headed out for work.

 

Junmyeon flushed eyeing the pristine pressed suit Jongin was wearing that probably cost more than he made in a month.

 

Somehow he already knew this night was going to end up like so many others.

 

Jongin would enter his dingy filth ridden apartment that never seemed clean despite Junmyeon’s best efforts. It was more like a ghost town since Junmyeon rarely slept in it - most nights he was curled for a hour or two in the hospital longue because they couldn’t spare the doctor for that much time.

 

Jongin would ask for a beer like he always did. Junmyeon would serve him a chilled beer knowing outside the bodyguards lingered and even more in the parking lot.

 

Then they would fall into bed together - Junmyeon caught helplessly in the spider web that is Kim Jongin.

 

The first time it happened he could not say he was shocked. It could be worse, he thought. The hospital and Junmyeon’s own personal debt collectors disappeared. It wasn’t as if Jongin wasn’t an attentive lover. He was. A lot younger, a bit spoiled, and certainly dangerous.

 

But it could be worse right?

 

 


End file.
